Sea Bass and Greens

Today’s post is really a story…A story of a place to getaway or escape the hustle and bustle. A little Greek fishing village on the waters of the Gulf of Corinth called Spilia. We found it by fate. Those of you (pretty much just family and very close friends) who have my book know this place, but today I am sharing it with the world because of a recipe I saw online for Sea Bass and Greens. So, here is my story…While still in Meteora at the base of the Monasteries in Kastraki, I booked us a 2 day stay at a place called Le Due Sorelle. I only booked 2 nights and figured if we love it, we can stay longer. The description on hotels.com looked very inviting and perfect for us because of the kitchen and convenient location to Delphi as well as it’s proximity to the Rio-Antirrio Bridge. We had no particular itinerary at this point, we only knew we wanted to eventually make our way over to The Peloponnese and we all just wanted to see water. On route in our trusty economy size rental car, we drove along the coastal highway and located the hotel easily. We were beginning to get the gist of driving in Greece and feeling a bit more at ease. Arriving at Le Due Sorelle late one Sunday afternoon in early May, we piled out of the car and made our way through the entrance of the property where Theresa, the owner of the inn greeted us warmly. Thankfully, she spoke English. She and her husband were just getting Le Due Sorelle open for the Summer Season, so we were experiencing the little village as it was just waking up for the tourists that would be flocking to the beaches soon.

After a tour of our perfect apartment, the girls and I ran all over the grounds taking pictures

The tree below is so cool! These trees grow rapidly like kudzoo…I forget what they are called but by the end of our journey, 6 weeks later or so, these trees were so lush and full of gorgeous leaves.

and naturally, Charlotte (with permission) had to pick a huge lemon…

The apartment had its own private balcony and a place to hang our laundry, which we desperately needed to wash out since we had now been traveling for more than a week. How to travel light is another post, but I will explain at this point that we each brought one carry on duffle bag for our journey (and we made sure to leave space for souvenirs!) Needless to say, fabreeze was not sufficient at this time. Just a few doors down from our Inn, were a couple Tavernas with outdoor seating right on the water! We were starving for dinner, so we walked on over and sat down. Apparently they had just finished their lunch rush and we arrived in between what Greeks consider lunch and dinner. Dinner is normally around 10:00, but our clocks had not adjusted to this yet! As the waiters clear all the tables around us, we looked over the menu, which was completely in Greek, unlike the touristy area of Kalampaka we were at earlier this very morning, but it appeared to offer some wonderful fish, so we ordered….something and figured what the heck! Look at that view!!!!

A little while later, the waiter emerged carrying a platter with a beautiful Sea Bass. The Whole Fish was placed in the center of the table with a side of….GREENS? Like Collard type greens that those of us from Georgia are very familiar with. I found it so fascinating! (I don’t know why I didn’t think to take a picture of the fish sitting in the middle of our table) We just sat there, with water splashing near our feet, starring out at the Gulf as we shared this big fish. It was delicious! We still couldn’t get over the fact that we were in GREECE!!!

The next few days we decided to extend our stay at Le Due Sorelle, becoming more familiar each day with the Greek way of life. The nearby busy city of Nafpaktos was an adventure and allowed for some shopping(time to find swimwear and beach accessories!) Here is a tip: Be ready to parallel park when driving around cities in Greece.

We picked up some yummy shrimp at the fish market and cooked our first meal

A lovely suggestion from our host took us east along the coast to Galaxidi where we experienced grilled octopus…

Charlotte practiced writing the Greek alphabet (so we could figure out the map and road signs)!

This is actually the view we experienced one morning while sipping coffee! I’m not kidding…. Is that not gorgeous??!!!

Four days later, we said farewell to the village as we continued on our journey….Across the bridge…Never knowing what we were about to discover!